7 Subway Extension
7 Subway Extension is an extended route 7, that runs from Penn Station via the Western developments, into the New Jersey. The extension's opening had been delayed to June 2014, with the rest of the Main Station to open at the end of 2015. Construction Progress In October 2007, the MTA had awarded $1.45 billion contract for the construction of the planned 7 Subway Extension to serve the newer Western suburbs. Richard Dattner and Partners, Architects, designed the Jacob Javits Convention Center station. After excavating the new terminal's shell and creating the first 1,000 feet (300 m) of tunnel using the drill-and-blast method, S3 placed two tunnel-boring machines (TBMs) in the ground to dig the remaining 6,000 feet (1,800 m); as it dug, each TBM placed precast concrete liner segments to create the tunnel interior. In September 2007, it was announced that the new station would feature platform screen doors. The station (along with the new South Ferry station on the IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line and the three Phase 1 Second Avenue Subway stations in the Upper East Side) will include special air-cooling systems to reduce the temperature along platforms; the extension has ventilation towers, rather than the ventilation grates ubiquitous in the rest of the subway system. On December 3, 2007, the MTA conducted a ceremony at the Times Square subway station marking the launch of construction of the 7 train extension. The contractor began excavating the station cavern adjacent to the Javits Convention Center. MTA posted a construction update with photographs on its website in November 2008, showing substantial progress. Tunnel boring machine construction began on August 2008. The tunnel boring machine had to excavate at about 20m deep due to the structural integrity issues and it is close proximity to the sea. One of the TBMs completed in April 2010, and it was completed on December 2010. The closure had to close one road due to the tight corridor. On August 21, 2013, the MTA announced that the 7 Subway Extension was 90% complete. On December 20, 2013, MayorM ichael Bloomberg took a ceremonial ride on a train to the new terminal, celebrating a part of his legacy as Mayor; at the time, the proposed opening date was June 2014. Later on it moved over to January 2015. Extension to New Jersey 17 years after the 1993 MTA study on their extension of 7 across the Hudson River, The New York Times reported that Mayor Michael Bloomberg had been considering the extension to Hoboken and Seacumus Junction where it will connect to New Jersey Transit lines. It would offer commuters a direct access to Manhattan and connections to other New York City Subway transit routes. If opened, the extension would take the New York City Subway outside the state's borders for the first time. The plan would replace the Access to the Region's Core (ARC) tunnel, which was canceled by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in October 2010. On February 2, 2011, the city's Economic Development Corporation voted to budget up to $250,000 for a feasibility study of a tunnel for the subway line extension. The engineering firm Parsons Brinckerhoff carried out the study. The report was released in April 2013. The proposal includes the construction of the in-fill station at 10th Avenue, tunnels running along the path of the ARC tunnel, and a multi-level multi-modal addition to Secaucus Junction. A widening of the right-of way of the Northeast Corridor was considered. The New York Post has reported that the Flushing line extension to Union City and Secaucus will have a formal proposal made by Mayor Bloomberg around the end of 2012. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and the Port Authority are on record as supporting the plan, along with splitting the estimated US$10 billion cost if it is officially approved. A subway extension would cost less than the ARC tunnel, as it would start at the planned station at Eleventh Avenue and go west, avoiding the expensive tunnel boring work east to Herald Square and the complex station deep underground there. However, travel times into Manhattan might be longer than under the original ARC proposal, because riders would need to transfer to the subway from New Jersey Transit trains at Secaucus. Additionally, because NJT trains would continue to or from Penn Station, the key goal of reduced tunnel congestion between New Jersey and New York would not be achieved. On the other hand, as Governor Christie said "It would actually connect us to the east side of Manhattan, like we always wanted to..." Bloomberg had yet to meet with New York Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo and the project, which could require five additional years to develop, would not be automatically entitled to the federal funding allotted to the ARC tunnel. Amtrak's February 2011 announcement of the Gateway Project includes a proposal to extend the 7 service three blocks east of Eleventh Avenue to New York Penn Station, instead of five miles west to Secaucus. Gateway, under auspices of Amtrak, would include a high-speed rail right-of way from Newark Penn to New York Penn and provide more capacity on New Jersey Transit rail operations. US Congress allocated $15 million for studies for the project in November 2011. It is likely the two projects, Gateway and the subway extension, will be in competition for funding. }} In April 2012, citing budget considerations, the director of the MTA, Joe Lhota, said that it was doubtful the extension would be built in the foreseeable future, suggesting that the Gateway Project was a much more likely solution to congestion at Hudson River crossings. }} However, a feasibility study commissioned by the city and released in April 2013 revived hope for the project, with Mayor Bloomberg saying "Extending the 7 train to Secaucus is a promising potential solution ... and is deserving of serious consideration."Plan to extend No. 7 subway from NYC to New Jersey could be back on track, Mike Frassinelli, The Star-Ledger, April 10, 2013 In a November 2013 Daily News opinion article, the president of the Real Estate Board of New York and the chairman of Edison Properties called for the line to be extended to Secaucus in tunnels to be shared with the Gateway Project. Later in November 2013 the New Jersey Assembly passed a Resolution 168 supporting the extension of the line to Hoboken and Secaucus.